The Way is Clear for Opal Gastransport to Offer Full Gas Capacity

A Duesseldorf Higher Regional Court said last week that it will not honour a request by Polish energy company PGniG and its German subsidiary to block Gazprom from increasing its use of the Opal pipeline in eastern Germany.

PGniG requested to stop or limit full capacity auctions on Opal to no avail. An Opal Gastransport spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that these appeals were completely rejected and that Opal Gastransport can offer its capacity fully to the market."

The protracted multinational dispute is a microcosm of the greater question concerning gas supply to Europe, with Russia able to circumvent Ukraine and Poland by virtue of the Nordstream pipelines feeding directly into the heart of Europe.

The European Commission has also encouraged member states to curb their reliance on Russian energy in the wake of Moscow's annexation of Crimea in 2014.